I had a thought, no groaning, please! What would you guys think about starting a Reading Ring?

We could contribute books we have that are hard to find or infrequently posted here and send them around for anyone who wants to sign up to read and then send the book back to the original owner.

I would be happy to coordinate the rings. I think it would be a good idea for anyone interested in borrowing a book to send a credit to be held in escrow until the book is returned. No member should have more than one borrowed book at a time. Each book should be sent back at a pre-arranged time. You must be a member of PBS for a certain length of time before you are eligible to sign up. I'm sure that together we could think of other rules or guidelines that would make this work well for everyone. I have several hard to find or infrequently posted books that I want to keep, but would love to share with others.

What do you think of this plan? Anyone interested?

Valli,

I would be interested in participating in this.  You guys have a bunch of stuff on your keeper shelves that I would love to read and be happy to return it back to you.  I'm not a keeper-type person, so I repost almost everything I get anyway.  Because of that, I don't have anything to contribute to the shelf, but I would be willing to buy a couple of reasonably priced books if contributing is a requirement of participating.  Thanks for the great idea!

Great idea! I have a lot of harder-to-find books just sitting here waiting for me to read them and would be happy to share them with others (and finally read them when they return to me).

Maybe we could set up a system where members could request specific books they'd like to read and see if anyone else is able to fill the request.

I'm in.  I'll start on my list when I get back.

I'd love to do this.  Would we just submit a list of all our HF that we know we're not going to get to any time soon?  Would everyone contribute the lists and then there would be a master list of whats available and then people could sign up off that list?  Just asking because 95% of my massive book shelf is HF and I have my reading list planned out for the next 6 months so I would have upwards of 150 books I could possibly lend for this.

Holly, I actually think Felicia's idea of working from requests is a better idea. I think we should start a Reading Ring thread that is for requests. If there is a book you are dying to read, make a post and if someone has it and wants to loan it, they can send it on to the other member.I think doing it like this would keep the loaning at a manageable level, too.

I think the borrower should send a credit to the loaner that will be held in escrow until the book is returned.

I think before we start this, we should see if there is enough interest .

I was thinking this would be great for all of the Plaidy's and other books that I'm hoarding, but not ready to read yet. I've got a lot of the stuff whose wishlist lines never, ever move; like the Chadwicks. I've got a lot of the stuff that isn't sold in bookstores, too.

There are several Book Ring threads in the Games forum that already have nice rules and procedures.  Search that forum for "Rings" and you'll find them.  They have rules for escrowing credits, time limits for sending to the next person, etc.

Thanks, Christa! I'll look for those threads and maybe get some better idea's for how to make this work well.

I'd definitely be interested! I think it's a terrific idea.

Ok that makes sense.  I probably won't borrow alot myself til I start reading some of the stuff already on my shelf but I'd be happy to loan out whatever I have.  I have a ton of Plaidys too and some Margaret Campbell Barnes, Anya Seton, and a few of the Alison Weir books that never move.

Obviously, I'm a hoarder too :)

I have books I would be willing to lend out. This is a good idea! I'm in!

Having a credit as a "good faith" escrow is a great idea. However, the enthusiasm for a reading ring is because these are books that 1) don't move fast through normal wish list channels, 2) are otherwise hard to come by, and/or 3) are determined as keepers (for whatever reason) by the original owner.

So, with that in mind, wouldn't it be a good idea for there to be an honor pledge to replace the book if it becomes lost or damaged beyond normal reading use, i.e, split spine, folded pages, water damage, etc., etc. A credit is not much good to me if I have to pay to replace a book I loaned in good faith through the reading ring.

Kelly

Kelly, you make a good point.  Looking at the way the rings are set up on the Games Forum, no one mentions anything about replacing a book that gets lost or damaged.  But there are many that limited the number of people who signed up.  So that limits the risk, and each owner's risk tolerance will be different.  One  person may only want it to go through 5 hands before it comes back to them, and somebody else may be willing to have a ten-person ring.  I really think the best way to do this is through the Games Forum, where you have a moderator who holds the credits.  I think that gives you at least some measure of protection and also ensures that you are operating within the PBS rules.

I think maybe I'm using the wrong language here. I guess a reading ring is where a book is chosen and then sent around to whomever signs up. That is not what I want to do. I was envisioning an area where we could see if someone among us has a particular book that is hard to get, a book that doesn't get posted very often. Of course, if someone wanted to pass a popular book around, they could, but that is not what I'm attempting to set up. The game forum would most definitely be the best place for that sort of thing, but not for what I'm wanting to do. I'm not wanting to start a game with people in a line, signing up to read a particular book.

Kelly, I've thought about that too and I would hope that if someone damaged a book, they'd replace it simply because it's the right thing to do and I'd make that clear in the OP. I was also thinking that we should have a one loan at a time policy. You probably wouldn't want to loan books that are really expensive or rare.  I was thinking more along the lines of books that are out there at decent prices, but don't get posted often here because they are OOP or whatever. Something like me lending Holly book one in a series because she has book two and I'm not ready to read book one yet. I could loan it to her to read instead of it just sitting on my shelf. This would not be a thread where someone asks to borrow the latest Philippa Gregory book simply because they are way up in the wishlist line. A Gregory book is going to get posted plenty and there is no need to borrow a book like that.

I was thinking of having a thread where someone could make a post asking if someone has a particular book to loan.If someone has the book and wants to loan it, they can let that person know and make arrangements to send the book and have it returned. DC would need to be used and if the book isn't returned or returned damaged, that should be posted in the thread too. Every thing about the loan would be posted in the thread so that all of this is happening in front of everyone one and there is a record of what is happening. So, if I sent that book to Holly, I'd post and tell her it's on the way. Then, she'd post that she got it. She'd read it and post to let me know she's mailed it back to me and I'd post to say I got it back. Now, we all know that everything worked out okay and both Holly and I would be good to play library with. ;-)

I don't know, maybe this is too big a thing to do here.   Maybe I'll run the idea through the team and make sure I'm not breaking any rules before I start anything else. I can't see how loaning one of my own, unposted books would be breaking a rule, but you never know.

I'm working on a great mini-challenge for next month, maybe we should just stick to that kind of stuff. Whatcha think? Some great ideas seem great until you start to work out the details, lol. I was just thinking that it would be great if I could loan someone the hard to find books that are just sitting on my shelves and will probably sit there for a long while. I buy  many books, too, so I have most of the "not sold in store" books that are wishlisted. I've got the Helen Hollick books, Elizabeth Chadwicks, Rachel Bard's, and many, many Plaidy's.

Sounds great Valli. I will keep checking this thread and you can count me in - if I have anything to contribute!

Valli,

What you envisioned is exactly what I was thinking as well. And, there are some books that I would be willing to lend under the scenario you described. I think you have outlined a very workable plan & I will be interested to know what the PBS folks say.

Kelly

I think this is a great idea and would be very interested in participating if that is ok with you guys.

I might participate!  I'd certainly loan books to anyone. Whether I'd borrow, I'm not sure. I am now pushing 150 books on my actual bookshelf, and I continue to order more as wish list requests are fulfilled here AND I still request some from the library!  Holy Moly!  If I ever get through all the books I have, it'll be a freakin' miracle!

Shelley, That's exactly how I feel. Not sure whether I would borrow since I have so much to read. My bookshelf isn't as extensive as yours as I tend to post most of the books I've read. I have quite a few that I haven't posted as yet because, of course, I HAVEN'T READ THEM!! i sure wouldn't mind lending them though.

LOL!  Jeanne, I too post most of my stuff as soon as I've read it, with a few exceptions.  Once in awhile I'll borrow something to my MIL or SIL or DH wants to read it.  I have a few books I will never part with, like my very favorites and The Kitchen Boy.  The copy I got here through PBS is signed by the author, so I thought I'd hang on to it.  Those 150 or so books on my shelf are all unread!  Egads!!! 

I know, Shelley, I have a few books that I want to hang on to. As a matter of fact the ones that come to mind first are the Lawrence Schoonover books. They are mostly old paperbacks and some are hard to find now. I can't believe that I signed up for the Daily Digest here on PBS and every time I get on there, I'm saying to myself:"WHY are you doing this?" It isn't bad enugh that I have a WL and a RL!

I've finally got to ask this question: what are "DH"; "MIL"; "SIL"? I see these terms and never wanted to admit to my ignorance before. Enlighten me!!!

Jeanne -  MIL + mother-in-law, SIL = sister-in-law, DH = dear husband, etc.  Some other ones are DD = dear daughter, DS = dear son, etc.

I post most of the books I read, and I give some to my library. Even though I get rid of 97% of the books I read, I still have a ton of books that haven't been read yet, so the shelves stay full. I keep non-fiction that I think I may need again, but most of the fiction gets posted unless it's something I love too much to part with. Of course, sometimes I'll post fiction that I thought I couldn't part with after just a couple of months when I realize I'm not ever going to read it again.

My TBR is just out of control! I don't like to buy shoes or clothes, but I adore book shopping. Sometimes, I think I love shopping for books just as much as reading them. I just make sure they all fit into my reading room, no more than that.   There are way worse things to spend my money on! I've always had a huge TBR, even pre-PBS, and I seriously doubt it's ever going to change. I just love being surrounded by me books! :-D

Gee Shelley, I really appreciate the info. I would have thought husband may have some different letters, but at times I can live with DH! I have to admit, I counted most of my books and GADS! I came up with 130. I didn't need to know that!

Valli, I too keep some books and then realize I will never read them again. I'm not going to live that long! So, maybe I need to rethink this. Shopping for books is great fun. I get them home, shelve them and then find I'm having trouble deciding which one to read next - the Challenge really helped out with this, except then I ordered some MORE books to fit the challenge! What a dilemma.

I would definitely participate, and like the honor pledge idea---there are a ton of older HF classics that I'd love to be able to read and know that these are highly valued by their owners and agree that one credit is not the right 'remedy' for such a book's being damaged or lost, etc. I'm not much of a keeper except of certain series' that I love, but would gladly share those on those terms.